Not to be confused with the question, “What is the biggest fish in the sea?” the largest bony fish in the ocean is the ocean sunfish. The biggest fish in the sea is the whale shark, but, sharks do not have bones, they have cartilage. Cartilage is the bendy material that makes up our noses and ears.

Ocean sunfish are made up of bones, just like us. They can be up to 2-3 tons (2000 pounds makes up a ton).

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In the most amateur sense you would call yourself a shell collector…However, considering the fact that you are not just collecting for the sake of collecting (although you may be), but to study the specimens (even if it may be in the most primitive sense), therefore, you can call yourself a conchologist.

A person that studies sea shells is called aconchologist.

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From far away you can probably only see the fin, right? The Atlantic bottlenose dolphin will have a dorsal fin that is hooked while the Atlantic Harbor Porpoise will have a triangular dorsal fin. If you are closer you will see other differences. For instance, the dolphin is about 7-12 feet as an adult while the porpoise gets to be about six feet. Also, the porpoise has a rather blunt nose while the dolphin has a much more pronounced, almost bottle-shaped, nose. Lastly, the porpoise is usually darker in color than the dolphin. Do you have another great question? Check out www.beachchairscientist.com and let us know what you always ponder while digging your toes in the sand!

I am writing this as a very long overdue expansion to a post that I wrote November 25, 2008, “What happens if I swallow salt water?“. The pertinent information lacking was the composition of the salt in salt water (my sincerest apologies).

The salt in salt water is:

77.6% table salt;

10.88% magnesium chloride;

4.74% epson salts;

3.60% calcium sulfates;

2.47% potassium sulfates;

0.34% lime; and

0.51% trace minerals.

(Did you know that a lot of cities are now using a form of magnesium chloride on roadways instead of rock salt during icy conditions? It is not as toxic to nearby plants and waters.)

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Keep calm. Also, remain at least 100 feet back so as not to scare the animal back into the ocean. If the animal is injured you want to be sure to get experts there immediately to investigate. If you are on the Atlantic coast call one of the following members of the Northeast Stranding Center.

Maine:
College of the Atlantic (207) 288-5015
University of New England-Hot Line (207) 580-0447

Typically you can volunteer at a stranding center. This would involve being available for crowd control and keeping the animal damp with towels during the interim time when an animal is spotted until experts can show up to diagnosis the animal. You must be properly trained before you become a proper marine mammal stranding volunteer.

I have lived in New Jersey, North Carolina and Florida – someone in each state has claimed that their state has the longest coastline along the Atlantic. Seriously – even, New Jersey! Usually, the phrase, “Well, we have a lot of coves and bays that jig jag in and out of the coast” is always part of the conversation when I start to look skeptical.

I did some research and here is the low down on the general coastline bragging rights (not including tidal coastlines):

10. Massachusetts – 192 miles

9. Maine -228 miles

8. Oregon -296 miles

7. North Carolina -301 miles

6. Texas -367 miles

5. Louisiana -397 miles

4. Hawaii -750 miles

3. California – 840 miles

2. Florida – 1,350 miles

1. Alaska – 6,640 miles

(according to Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Service, “figures are lengths of general outline of seacoast. This does not include freshwater coastlines. Measurements are made with a unit measure of 30 minutes of latitude on charts as near scale of 1:1,200.000 as possible. Coastline of bays and sounds is included where they narrow to width of unit measure, and distance across at such point is included.“)

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A lot of folks these days are interested in making certain their favorite past time of fishing is going to be around for future generations to enjoy.

Here is a short list of tactics to remain ethical, while still keeping fishing that ever intense sport of glory.

Best practices:

– Respect the space of one another while out there on the water to make it enjoyable for everyone.
– Be informed of the catch and size limits of the waters that you are fishing.
– Practice “catch” and “release” fishing techniques (see below).

The “catch” part:

– Use barbless hooks, because they reduce damage and handling time of the fish. Remove the hook gently.
– Keep the fish in the water or wet your hands if you handle the fish to unhook it.
– Don’t put your fingers in the gill covers or hold the fish by its eye sockets (!) or squeeze it too hard.
– When you do make contact with the fish make sure your hands are continuously wet. It will help to keep the animal’s natural mucus intact. The mucus protects the fish from getting infections.

The “release” part:

– Hold the fish in their normal swimming position and move them back and forth slowly to have water run across their gills.
– Revive exhausted fish by moving water through its gills. Fish that were caught kicking and screaming like a teenager going off to Sunday school use an increased rate of oxygen.

Lastly, I am a big fan of saving the best for last – the most important rule – have fun!

Well, most fish are just like us and simply want to find a place away from all the chaos of the day to day rat race to take a nap and rest – slowing down their busy lives – gaining energy for the next day.

These places could be under logs, coral crevices, or other sorts of reefs spots – basically out of the way of predators.

Here is an interesting adaptation – the parrotfish uses its spit to create a translucent “sleeping bag bubble” around its body while it sleeps. The bubble helps to hide the parrotfish’s scent so other fish will not find it. If another animal bumps into it – the parrotfish will be warned of the other animal nearby and make a quick get away. Parrotfish are found on the coral reef.

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